Ireland should establish a Youth Guarantee - Jobs Committee report

Committee Vice-Chairman John Lyons TD said: “A Youth Guarantee would ensure all young people under 25 are offered continued education , an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed. Youth Guarantees have been used in several regions around the world including Austria, UK, Sweden and New Zealand. Ireland has already applied to be included in an EU Youth Guarantee pilot programme and should know if the application has been successful by the end of March 2013.”

The Report, Creating Policies That Work – Actions to Address Youth and Long-Term Unemployment, takes a three-pronged approach to the jobs crisis with recommendations made which:

1. Keep young people and jobseekers engaged with the jobs market through work placement, training and education;
2. Focus on securing funding for investment and job creation; and
3. Match jobseekers with suitable jobs, with the co-operation of the public and private sectors.

Deputy Lyons added:  “Our Committee identified unemployment in general, long term unemployment and youth unemployment as key priority issues that were fundamentally important in national efforts to achieve economic recovery. With recommendations put forward in this report we are committed to playing our part in finding new potential solutions which integrate social protection, education and job creation measures to get people back to work.”

Among the report’s key recommendations are:

• The Government, in collaboration with industry, should consider rolling out a national youth strategy on entrepreneurship. In addition the Government could introduce a Youth Entrepreneurship Fund, of €1,000,000 on a two year trial basis, pending further review. The Committee recommends that Ireland consider developing a scheme for encouraging entrepreneurship among first-time jobseekers (aged 18-35), that would follow the example set by Portugal, which provides aid for the start-up of small, for-profit companies that create jobs. In Portugal, two credit lines with low interest rates were launched to support the approved initiatives.

• The Government should make greater use of social clauses in all contracts issued by the State. Such clauses could ensure that a percentage of workers hired are long-term unemployed.

• The Committee recommends the expansion of the MOMENTUM Initiative which provides courses to give the long term unemployed in-demand skills in order to access work in sectors of the economy where there are job opportunities.

• The Government should invest in the social economy, which, as the Committee heard from Clann Credo, is comparatively poorly developed in Ireland. This may help to maximise jobs potential in this sector.

Chairman of the Committee Deputy Damien English said: “Following a series of roundtable discussions with a range of organisations and individuals, along with the receipt of written submissions from interested parties, the Jobs Enterprise and Innovation Committee report Creating Policies that Work - Actions to address Youth and Long-Term Unemployment puts forward clear, innovative and actionable recommendations and initiatives that will make a difference in tackling the issue of youth and long-term unemployment.

“Tackling the serious issue of youth and long-term unemployment is an economic and social priority for this country. The Joint Committee for its part, is fully committed in close consultation with the relevant Ministers, Departments, State Agencies and stakeholders to monitoring the progress being made on the on-going implementation of the recommendations contained in this Report as well as other policy initiatives.”

Read the report here: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/Creating-Policies-that-Work-Report.pdf

Committee Chairman Damien English TD discusses the report’s recommendations here: http://youtu.be/U0Zfxv3r85c

For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
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F: +3531 618 4551

Committee Membership

Deputies: Dara Calleary, Áine Collins, Michael Conaghan, Damien English (Chair), John Halligan, Seán Kyne, Anthony Lawlor, John Lyons (Vice-Chair) and Peadar Tóibín.

Senators: Deirdre Clune, David Cullinane, John Kelly, Michael Mullins, Feargal Quinn and Mary White